bkoganbing
Cheap and shoddy though it is I have to say that Queen Of Blood has one interesting story line and as such is a bit better than some of Roger Corman's effort.It's always fascinating to me how inevitably the science fiction films get it wrong via time. Made in 1966 Queen Of Blood has us beginning interplanetary expeditions in 1990. We've gone beyond Pluto but not with anyone human on board.In any event Judi Meredith has been monitoring signals from space for years and now someone is responding to her. It's a distress call from a ship that has landed on Mars. Astronauts John Saxon and Don Eitner are sent and they find Florence Marly a beautiful alien queen with an appetite for human blood or any blood will do.Of course that's far from the end of it and the alien reproduction is nothing like earth humans do it.Basil Rathbone is in this as the head scientist and for someone who did classic roles in his prime like Tybalt and Sherlock Holmes he looks a bit pained to be working here. But the man was a pro.The ending is original and shocking which is why you should see Queen Of Blood.
Michael_Elliott
Queen of Blood (1966)** 1/2 (out of 4) Earth finally manages to make contact with an alien form but that form crashes on Mars so astronauts are sent to try and rescue any survivors. Allan Brenner (John Saxon) and Laura James (Judi Meredith) both have different opinions on the mission but soon they are fighting for their lives when the Queen alien (Florence Marly) turns out to be a vampire.QUEEN OF BLOOD isn't your average horror film. If you're familiar with Curtis Harrington then you know he liked to go more towards the art house than the drive-in. His feature film NIGHT TIDE is one of the strangest horror movies that you'll ever see and QUEEN OF BLOOD is just as weird on many levels. I know a lot of people praise Mario Bava for PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES and how he managed to turn a low-budget into a great looking production. I think Harrington really deserves the same credit because this movie certainly looks wonderful even if the film itself isn't a complete success.What does work here are the terrific visuals. You've got the budget of your typical low-budget nature but Harrington makes sure you can't tell that by looking at the picture. I really loved the use of color throughout the film and especially the glowing reds. The colors certainly leap off the screen and manage to grab and hold your attention. Another plus is that we've got an excellent villain in the female vampire. I really loved her look with the green colors and there were some great scenes with the red blood just dripping from her that was quite effective.Another plus is that we've got a good cast with both Saxon and Meredith doing a nice job with the lead roles. Marly is also quite good in the role of the vampire and we've got Basil Rathbone and Dennis Hopper in small roles. The film certainly does have some flaws including its story, which is rather unoriginal and there's no question that the psychedelic nature doesn't always work in regards to its story. Still, QUEEN OF BLOOD is an interesting picture visually and certainly worth watching.
gavin6942
Take Dennis Hopper, give him a leading role, and hand hi ma script written by Curtis Harrington. Then allow Harrington to direct said picture. What do you get? "Night Tide", one of the single greatest horror films in movie history. However, if you do the same thing, put it in space and throw in a green-skinned alien, you have "Queen of Blood".Let's be fair. It's a 1960s b-movie with no budget and recycled images from a Russian film. If you have to steal from Russia to make your movie, that's a sign right there that you're in trouble. But, accounting for the low budget, and ignoring this, it's not actually a bad film. I mean, compare Mario Bava's "Planet of the Vampires". Bava is by far a bigger name than Harrington... but I would say "Queen of Blood" is the better film.And the plot, really, is not that bad. Some have said they see the beginnings of "Alien" in this one. Of course, many films have been said to be precursors (including "Dark Star") so I don't believe much of that unless I hear it from the creators themselves (and Dan O'Bannon is sadly passed).
FilmFanInTheHouse
Queen of Blood (1966, Dir. Curtis Harrington) It's the year 1990 and scientists receive a distress call from an alien spaceship that has crash-landed on Mars. Dr Farraday decides to send a team of astronauts, including Allan Brenner and Paul Grant, on a rescue mission. On the planet, they discover just one survivor. This green-skinned alien is brought aboard, but when one man is attacked and drained of his blood, the survivors are soon racing home, before they too become victim to the bloodsucker.I got 'Queen of Blood' in a pack of 10 horror DVDs for £5. What i had previously watched wasn't the greatest. The films are meant to be great. They are not big budget movies and it really relies on the story to keep you watching it. Unfortuantly, i just could not keep with this particular film. Even though it starred the great John Saxon and Dennis Hopper, the effects were laughable and the quality of the film is just not what i'm used to. But then again, if you enjoy old and cheap sci-fi films, then you would really like this."How are the musical spheres." - Allan Brenner (John Saxon)
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